If we consider the latest fintech products such as digital banking platforms, trading apps, forex apps, e-wallets etc., they all have enough of a trust-factor within them, which helps users to believe in their services. Obviously, the design, the build, and the security of such services have to be kept top-notch. In this article we will give you a clear overview about the key design aspects for such fintech products, since the design has to be on par with what the users expect from an experience and usability standpoint. 

India: Third Largest fintech centre in the world

The fact that more than 300 million Indians (in 2020) use fintech solutions for banking and transactions proves that India is growing fast around this industry. But still, almost 1.2 billion people resort to cash when it comes to financial situations. This enormous number represents an untapped market. Illustrating the importance of having a trust-factor in the same sense. 

Demystifying Confusion

What are the right strategies to establish a fintech solution? Who is your target audience? How to build trust among them? Yes, there are many questions, but in this article, we will answer them all one by one. 

People using cash during their financial transactions believe in the trust and security of physical money. What they do not know is that online transactions and banking are reliable and more secure than ever. New technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence are incorporated to make smart algorithms and detect anomalies in real-time. 

Answering the question: Why?

In business and finance, trust from both the clients and the consumers has to have synchronization. Trust is the epicentre of relationships. It is and always will be valid for any finance or business, irrespective of it being physical or digital. Thus, our answer will be:

Trust is an essential part when it comes to building a brand identity, strengthening financial relationships, promoting innovative approaches in financial technologies and endorsing a producer – customer bond. If you can develop these skills, users are more likely inclined to your company, as compared to your competitors. 

Trust-factor is Always Not Adequate.

When you try to bring something new to any market, you will face difficulties. Your product(s) may not meet expected user demand, it may not stand up to the competition from its competitors, it may not meet advertised quality, or it may not even be financially feasible to continue its productions. The reasons can be many. Keeping these in mind, we bring you examples of some well-known failures of the fintech sector:

Failed prediction of bitcoin by Beenz and Flooz(2001)

Beenz and Flooz thought that cryptography would be the best future for the online money sector and were determined to change the traditional payment methods. At that period, bitcoins and cryptocurrency were new to users. Not everyone had a clear idea about this, and it did not last long. People stopped using these currencies. Numerous banks declared bitcoins as invalid crypto miners and told that Bitcoin transactions were too slow and too expensive to remain practical. 

Hasty investment – PayPal and Skype(2009)

In 2005, eBay paid $2.6 billion to Skype to encourage new communications and commerce opportunities. The idea to integrate PayPal and Skype for allowing users to send funds through the app. But the financial crisis in 2009 led Skype to $1.9 billion in debts. Later Microsoft paid $8.5 billion for acquiring Skype and PayPal, and eBay was left out of the deal. 

Building trust-factor through design

Keeping all the above examples in mind, it is vital to focus on every aspect necessary to build a robust business plan successfully. There are numerous methods and models to follow. We will point out the ten most significant design tips to improve the trust-factor of fintech products: 

Answering the question: How?

You will never hand out your wallet to any stranger, nor will you let any application snoop on to your banking/transaction details. Thus, the key factor is trust. A fintech company can improve its trust-factor by the following strategies:

• Doing latest design analysis and research- Before starting any design-related workflows, the company must do prior research on the latest design trends in the fintech sector. Using outdated design can prove to be disastrous. Learn more about the latest UX Design research trends here.

• Weaving security into your app – Security must be the top priority for your fintech app/website. Without customer security, there will be no customer trust. Inculcating hardened encryption, biometric security, a pin is a must. All of these have to be built into the UX-UI. 

• Keeping the language clutter-free – Financial terms can be cumbersome to understand since not all people are experts in this sector. Describing the complex financial terminologies in a simple and lucid way is necessary to gain user trust. Keeping the UI clean is crucial. Learn more about the key principles of user interface design here.

• Keeping the design clean and simple – Overloading the screen with indigestible information can harm the user-experience. The majority of the big players in the fintech sector keep their app interface clean and simple. Showing soft transitions, light effects, and a clutter-free layout helps the user to gain confidence while using the app. It also helps build trust among the users. Learn more about building exceptional dashboards here.

• Keeping the necessary complex parts – Though keeping the design simple is mandatory, keeping some complex portions to ensure customer satisfaction is also important. The extra roadblocks like confirmations and verification messages help users to avoid financial mistakes. 

• Matching the UI with the brand – UI designing is an art. The users interact with your fintech solutions through the app UI. So making the users feel about your brand value through UI is not an easy task, but at the same time, very rewarding. You can learn more about the best UI practices here.

• Choosing the right colour theme – Adhering to industry-standard colour symbolism(using green and red for profit and loss, buy and sell) will help you get into the stream. At the same time, you have to make sure that it is visually appealing to the users. You can learn more about UI colour gradients here.

• Testing your fonts – We recommend sticking to a definite font family for your app/website. It should help in making your design readable and understandable.  

• Using the correct background colour – Dark or light, the background of your app/website must match with the design aesthetics of the interface. It is important to keep the target audience in mind.

• Keeping the designs scalable – the future of the fintech sector is evolving, and so is the design of the apps. It is crucial to design scalable features into the app to reach more diverse users. The design should be capable of accepting new updates and features. 

Key Takeaways

In this article, we have described various design tips and tricks to improve the trust-factor of fintech products. We have discussed why the trust factor is important and what are the basic requirements required to gain the trustworthiness of the user’s. Creativity is the key to achieve all the discussed points for your fintech solution. It will help strengthen the user trust-factor and make your app visually beautiful and functionally efficient. It is also vital to educate people about the world of Financial Technologies. 
In conclusion, there is no shortcut for success in the fintech industry. Creating an engaging design that is able to inject trust into your customers is one of the major ways to be ahead of the competition.